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TFTD - May 2016


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01 May 2016

 

“Love needs to be “made perfect with us” (that is, whole or complete), with the result that “we may have boldness in the day of judgement”. This boldness is not presumption, but “confidence” (RSV). John gives a reason: “as he (Christ) is, so are we in this world”. That is, Jesus is the Son of God, and so the true disciples are His sons and daughters in the present age. Their “confidence” is based on the assurance that God forgives the sins of those who come unto Him in repentance, and in faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. For them “there is no fear (of judgement) in love, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:17-18).”

 

- Fred Pearce

Christ our Righteousness (1992)

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02 May 2016

 

“... God is love and because Christ loved us we also must love one another; because God is holy we must be holy “in all manner of living”; because Christ “became poor” for our sakes we also must give of ourselves unsparingly for others in the furtherance of his truth. And so with longsuffering: the true children of God manifest the longsuffering of God; the true disciples of Christ manifest the longsuffering of Christ. In this they show the genuineness of their sonship, of their discipleship: without it they have no claim on the salvation which comes to men specifically through the longsuffering of God and of His Son. So for Paul, to walk worthy of the calling wherewith we are called is to walk “with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2) ...”

 

- Neville Smart

The Longsuffering of our Lord (1981)

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03 May 2016

 

“One with the divine outlook is compassionate: he loves the sinner whilst hating the sin; he is tolerant towards the strivings of others whilst rejecting their creeds; he will help to comfort and if possible supply the needs of others even though he may be distressed by their ignorance of their Maker. And his outlook is such because he, too, was once a “stranger from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world”. (Ephesians 2:12).”

 

- John Marshall

The New Life (1969)

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04 May 2016

 

“God is love. Even in this mortality, God has shown us the wonder and beauty and joy of His love. Even though we never attain to the ultimate of the ideal in this life, “We see from far thy beauteous light, inly we sigh for thy repose. Ah when shall all my wanderings end, and all my steps to Theeward tend? Then shall my heart from pain be free, when it has found repose in thee.”

 

- Eric Richardson

Joy Unspeakable (1999)

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05 May 2016

 

“Remember these words: “The harder it is to live this life, the harder I lean on God. And the harder I lean on God, the stronger I find Him to be”. God always strengthens us through His written word. Guided by that word, our obedience and fruit of the spirit can grow in thankfulness for the enormous relief of God’s forgiveness and in the trust that He acts from love in all things.”

 

- “Abigail”

Estranged from God? (2000)
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06 May 2016

 

“We must be conscious of the witness within us that we have dedicated ourselves to the Lord. Because certainly this is what we have donemore firmly than ever did Israel; either in the time of Joshua, or of Moses before him. We must stand fast to our word. There is no way back to Egypt. What God has started in us, we must co-operate to finish, for although the God of Israel is omnipotent, He is unable to save those who are determined to turn their backs on Him.”

 

- Maurice Beale

JoshuaHis Life and Work

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07 May 2016

 

“The love of God, like eternal life, is circular. It comes from God through Christ into the hearts and minds of believers who then in praise and in practice return it to God. The circle is so tight that John is able to say, “He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Such love knows no bounds and never dries up or falls away. Like the rain that God sends upon both the just and the unjust it constantly penetrates the dust of humanity and brings forth more fruit.”

 

- John Mitchell

The Greatest of These ... (1996)

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08 May 2016

 

“God is righteous. His alone is the standard of truth by which all will be judged. By that standard all are sinners, but righteousness is offered as a gift, which comes through him who is declared to be “The Lord our righteousness”. Through him is exhibited the righteousness of God, and through his obedience righteousness is offered to us if we believe: “The just shall live by faith.”

 

- Philip Hinde

The Attributes of God (1973)

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09 May 2016

 

"If the disciples’ hopes were dashed to the ground by the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus, they were elevated to the skies by his resurrection, and it was partly through their accounts of his ministry, their preaching, and their epistles that the knowledge of the Truth came to us."

 

- A. Winter Moore

The Last Supper (1970)

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10 May 2016

 

"The commandment to “believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another” is one indivisible commandment. And it is when men, and when communities, separate out this one indivisible commandment into two complementary commandments that they find it possible first in their minds and then in practice to concentrate on one at the expense of the other and thereby inevitably lose both, and suffer spiritual shipwreck, and delude themselves that they know God when in fact the Lord they have now come to worship does not exist at all.

 

For as soon as we detach even in the least degree our supposed love for one another from our belief in the things involved in the name of “his Son Jesus Christ” it ceases to be the distinctive kind of love for one another that gives us a saving knowledge of God."

 

- Neville Smart

Knowing God (1966)
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11 May 2016

 

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy”, wrote the Psalmist. Going up to the mountain of the Lord to learn His ways is not necessarily reserved for the days of the Kingdom. We are supposed to be doing it today, so that when that Great Day of the Lord does come, we shall be amongst His kings and priests doing His work. We must look to the Mountain of the Lord for our Salvation. It is true of all generations. We cannot approach Him unless we do; and “no man cometh to the Father except by me” indicates that we cannot do it alone.”

 

- E. Green 

Mountain Tops (1961)

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12 May 2016

 

"Our finite minds cannot fully take in the infinite things of God. He speaks in a language we can understand; how far does that fall short of picturing the infinite glories of the future? We talk to children using words fitted to their minds. To what extent has God spoken to us in a similar way? Some of His pictures of the future are transcendantly beautiful. Human language seems stretched to its limit in their descriptions, but the terms in which they are described are human ones. What will their realization be like?"

 

- W.H. Boulton

Mystery and Mysteries in the New Testament (1957)

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13 May 2016

 

"Men cannot trifle with God, for “our God is a consuming fire”; He is indeed a God of love, but love itself is a fire which by its very nature separates those who receive it from those who resist it. While it is true that His love extends like sun and rain to just and unjust, it is also true that men cannot for ever spurn God with impunity."

 

- L.G. Sargent

Judgement to Come (1968) 
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14 May 2016

"... Jesus in his great discourse prior to his final conflict gives reminder after reminder of our need to be God-conscious men and women. The last days were very much in his mind: Matthew 24 is a significant chapter on the last days, giving us all the signs to watch for in the world in which we live. But more important than the outward signs is our personal response to his service. The great keyword is watch, and the great exercise is to watch ourselves."

- Jeff Hammett
Watch Unto Prayer (1979)
 

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15 May 2016

 

"Into this world of thought the teaching of Christianity came as revolution, in stark contrast to refined thinking. For the Bible presents love as originating solely in and from God, and never from man. It is depicted as arising out of the very character of God Himself, and as the expression of His great desire that men and women should, of their own free choice, recognise Him as God and Father and should seek to become children worthy of His Name."

 

- Fred Pearce

Christ our Righteousness (1992)
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16 May 2016

 

"Faith works when translated into the terms of daily life, making an adequate personality equipped for life, able to do what one ought to do and to endure what has to be withstood. What kind of faith have we in God? Is it a form or a force? James’ epistle opens and closes with strong encouragement to pray the prayer of faith (James 1:6; 5:14-18). Faithful prayer is not motivated by a fair-weather faith that only amid the flowers of Galilee or the applauding crowds of Palm Sunday vests its trust in God. Faithful prayer is proportionate to our hope, zealous and affectionate."

 

- Claud Lamb

Not Hearers Only (1986)
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17 May 2016

 

"One of the greatest revelations of Scripture is the relationship which can exist between God and His children. We might hope, in our more spiritual moments, that something like this could be possible, but without a specific revelation we should never really be sure. John makes it clear: "Whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." This is a far more exalted position than being just part of God’s general creation, great as that is. The Apostle Peter emphasises the difference by comparing the two: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever."

 

- Howard Walker

Evening Meditations (1976)
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18 May 2016

 

"How was Jesus able to endure? By the same process as every other human who is tried, yet with this difference; every other man and woman failed, on some occasion, but Jesus never failed; so deep rooted was his faith that he looked with perfect vision to that joy set before him, despising the shame, and so it came about that he is set down on the right hand of God."

 

- J.A. Swaish

So Great a Cloud of Witnesses (1961)

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19 May 2016

 

"We ourselves may be disturbers of our inward peace by looking too much on the warring elements around us, and forgetting the springs of inward strength. "Let not your heart be troubled", says Jesus. When the heart is filled with peace, the outward storm adds to the sense of security."

 

- C.A. Ladson

Guided by the Star
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20 May 2016

 

"There is a great tendency in our age, where Christ is remembered at all, to remember Christ without remembering God. What praise there is of Christ is mostly fixed upon him alone. God is not seen. This is not according to Christ. He came that we might be reconciled to God."

 

- Robert Roberts

Sunday Morning (1888)
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21 May 2016
 
“God raised up the firstborn, first in birth, then in resurrection. He is to be the firstborn of many brethren. Thus will be brought into being a family of God, redeemed through that first-born, all of whom God has called and glorified. The intention of the name “I will be” will be a fact in them: and God “will have become” their Father, their God, their source of life and fullness of immortal strength—in brief, their Saviour.”
 
- John Carter
First Century Preaching (1956)
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22 May 2016

 

"The Lord Jesus did not need forgiveness for he had never sinned, but he did need redemption from weak human nature, as the writer to the Hebrews so clearly shows. He needed experience and the trials of life for the development of that perfection which opened the way to life. He is the captain made perfect through suffering, and we must follow with unquestioning obedience."

 

- Islip Collyer

The King in the New Testament (1954)
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23 May 2016

 

"Because of our adoption as sons of God “to himself”, we join in the inheritance which the Father is to bestow on his sons, and we become, by promise, joint heirs with Jesus of the Kingdom, and will sit with him on his throne, even as he now sits with the Father on His throne.

 

In the meantime we have been separated from the world for training in holiness that we may be presented, to use another figure, to the Bridegroom as chaste, mature virgins, fit and prepared for the love and honours Christ will bestow upon his bride."

 

- John Marshall

Separation (1965)

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24 May 2016

 

"Happy are we in that we have understood that mortal man has hope of life eternal in Jesus Christ, and that no one else has words of life; and that we are able to go to him who can raise us up and give us everlasting life. "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life" (1 John 5:20)."

 

- John Carter

The Bread of Life (1932)

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25 May 2016

 

"We are all striving towards the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. As individuals we have many and divers gifts, but our one aim should be to use those gifts to the end that the whole body may be fitly compacted together by that which every joint supplieth. That unity can only be supplied by the love which actuates us in the performance of our several parts. let us therefore keep in mind at all times the words of John:

 

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God" (1 John 4:7)." 

 

- E.J.N.

Diversity of Gifts (1948)

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